Corona warriors win the battle; save life and limb of a Covid 19 patient-Dr Bedi

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Corona warriors win the battle; save life and limb of a Covid 19 patient-Dr Bedi

Kanwar Inder Singh/ royalpatiala.in/ Chandigarh

We know that a COVID disease can be a killer by itself. Today all elective surgeries are very carefully vetted to make sure that a patient needing elective surgery does not have a Corona infection. If he has – the case unless an emergency – is postponed. The reason is that an active Corona patient’s lungs are very prone to get a severe form of pneumonia and the heart is at risk of suffering an attack just by the corona infection itself. If a major surgery is added to this – the risk increases a 100 fold and such a case may not survive – not because of the surgery – but because the Corona infection complicates the recovery – sometimes irreversibly .

The Heart Team of Ivy Hospital , Mohali was recently confronted by  such a case who needed emergency surgery.  25 year old Gurjit (name changed) – a resident of Chandigarh sustained a massive injury in a car accident in Solan.  He was rushed to the Tri City and seen by Dr Harinder Singh Bedi – Director of Cardio Vascular Sciences in the Ivy Hospital , Mohali,  His investigations revealed a fracture of the arm bone (humerus) along with a total tear of his vessels . His arm was suffering from lack of blood and was in danger of developing gangrene.   In the meanwhile his Covid test came positive. There was now a dilemma of whether to operate or not . Not only was the patient in danger but also the operating team.

Corona warriors win the battle; save life and limb of a Covid 19 patient-Dr Bedi

Dr Bedi has operated such accident cases in Sydney and he realized that the surgery could not be postponed . All the Heart Team discussed the case and decided to operate. Stringent measures were taken which included the use of full protective PPE kits – which incidentally also make the surgery more difficult. The surgery was a success and the limb was saved . Gurjit and his family were very grateful that the Heart Team had not hesitated in spite of the major danger to themselves .

Dr Bedi is one of the senior most Cardio Vascular surgeons of India , is a Limca Book of World Record holder and a pioneer of beating heart surgery. He said that Covid is here to stay and we as surgeons have to learn to develop our skills to tackle such  cases . Even ‘recovered’ cases carry the sequelae of the infection in the form of weakened lungs and heart .

Dr Bedi can be contacted at 9814060480 , [email protected] and [email protected] for any clarification

October 12,2020